Get Ready, Get Set...

I passed the CDL test! We both got our CDLs - and we both passed the hazardous materials tests too, so now we each have the hazmat endorsement (which means more money).

Now that the tests are done, it's like a huge dark cloud hovering over us just left. Now we can focus on getting everything packed up and put in storage over the next few days. It's all the stress of moving, but almost worse because, instead of going from one house to another, we are putting everything in storage for the next few years.

A few days ago, we took a few photos together, just to commemorate the ending of this chapter in our lives and the beginning of the next. It's been a good chapter, full of memories... Now we're ready for the next chapter.

This weekend we are getting on a bus and heading to orientation with our new company. We will have a few days of orientation, then we will each go on the road with a trainer for a few weeks (about a month depending on how fast we get through the driving time). After that, we'll be back together, on our own, and in our own truck!

We're not looking forward to being apart for awhile, but it's a necessary step in the training process, and it's a short time in the grand scheme of things. And there are always phone calls, and pictures, and possibly even a weekend together somewhere in the process. And after that - well, after that, we never have to be apart again unless we choose to.

In fact, we'll literally be together the entire time. It's definitely going to test our relationship, and a lot of couples don't make it as a team because they can't deal with being crammed together, in the space of a walk-in closet, all day every day. However, we work well together as a team, and I'm confident that with a good deal of patience, love, and understanding, the building blocks of teamwork, we will be just fine. After all, when we first started out together, we lived in a tent (it's a long story). We've been through difficult times together and it always makes us stronger.

Here's to the next chapter in life. The adventure is beginning!

Almost There...

Who would've thought that getting a CDL would be this hard????

Hubby at the wheel of a school truck

Before we made this decision, we talked to several truckers and did our research. We heard a lot about different companies, training programs, driving in multiple states, and anxiety on your first solo run. We had no idea that actually obtaining a CDL would prove a little challenging.

In the great state of Indiana, the commercial drivers license test is comprised of three parts:

Demonstrating parallel park

1. The pre-trip inspection, involving naming over 100 parts of the truck, trailer, and inside the cab, and informing the examiner what should be checked on each of those parts to ensure safe operation of the vehicle, as well as actually checking the function of key parts like the brake system.

2. The skills test, which means three backing maneuvers: a straight line back up, an off-set back up to the right side, and a parallel park. These three maneuvers are boxed by lines with cones over them. Touching any of these lines or their cones, or pulling ahead too many times, mean points against you; too many points, or getting out of the truck too many times, means you fail.

3. The road test. If you get this far, you're still not in the clear because simply hitting a curb or taking both of your hands off the wheel are automatic fails. Shifting on railroad tracks, driving a mile faster than the speed limit in a school zone, or impeding traffic are also automatic fails. Points against you can be given for grinding gears, crossing lines, turning to wide or too narrow, driving too fast or too slow, or any other issues.

Keep in mind that at this point, we have been in school for 3 weeks. We have each driven between a half hour and an hour most days of the 2nd and 3rd weeks, logging about 4-5 hours of driving time altogether. We have spent several more hours on the practice range in the school parking lot learning the backing maneuvers, and practicing the pre-trip inspection and brake check on school trucks. It's not a lot of time to learn everything needed to pass the test.

Honestly, we both failed the test the first time around. Don did not fail through any fault of his own - the truck broke down at an intersection and he was unable to complete the test. Me...well I failed the parallel backing - mostly because I was nervous and set up incorrectly, then got frustrated and upset when I couldn't get it in the box.

Don took his test again two days later and passed with flying colors! Half of the Davis team now has a CDL. I will re-take the test on Tuesday. Believe me, I have been busting my butt on the practice range, figuring out what I did wrong and how to make sure it does not happen again. I am nervous about the re-test but strangely not as nervous as the first time I took it. Please keep us in prayer as we spend all our spare time this week getting everything packed and put in storage! The adventure is about to begin...

It's hard to tell, but I'm smiling...

One Week Down!

Whew... One week of driving training down, two weeks to go! It's been a stressful week but we have learned SO much.

Out to dinner to celebrate our first week

Unfortunately, I woke up with a head cold on Monday morning, which made me miserable for the first few days of class. Monday we spent the first half of the day filling out paperwork and then began learning from the CDL manual. Tuesday morning was more learning from the manual and quizzes on what we had learned. Then by Tuesday afternoon, we headed to the DMV to take the written tests for our driving permits! With three tests to take (general knowledge, air brakes, and combination vehicles), and less than two days of learning the information, it was a stressful time. But praise God, hubby and I both passed the tests and obtained our CDL permits.

First time driving a semi, and first time backing up!

The next few days have been continued classroom learning on things that we need to know before hitting the road - log books, hours of service limits, parts of the trucks and trailers, trip planning, map reading, turning safely, and a lot more information!

However, the thing most intimidating to me is learning to shift in a ten-speed manual transmission. Or maybe I should say...learning to shift in any manual transmission! Yeah, I've never driven a manual before...which meant I had a hard time understanding the concepts of shifting. Thankfully my sweet husband took the time to explain it all to me and reassure me that I would be able to pick it all up. My instructors were also patient with me and took me out in a bobtail (tractor without a trailer) to do laps around the parking lot practicing shifting.

Hubby smiling from the cab

We also got to start practicing straight backing yesterday - which is exactly what it sounds like, going backward and forward in a straight line within the confines of a very narrow lane of cones. For the next two weeks we will practice straight backing, offset backing (backing in a S-shape), and parallel parking. We will also be practicing the pre-trip inspection that must be done every time before driving a truck, since this is also on the CDL test. And finally we will get out on the road and actually drive!

We still have a long way to go, but we've already received offers from five different trucking companies. We've pretty sure we've narrowed it down to the one we want to hire on with, but please keep us in prayer as this is a big decision. In the meantime, please continue to keep us in prayer as we continue learning to drive!